Sri Lanka blasts: President Sirisena bans groups responsible for ghastly suicide bombings; India says need to work closely

The Sri Lankan government on Saturday banned National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) - the groups responsible for last week's Easter Day attacks in the country that killed over 250 people.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena's media division in a statement said, "President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, in terms of powers vested in him as the under Emergency Regulations No. 01 of 2019, has taken steps to ban the organizations National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) & Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) in Sri Lanka after Easter blasts".

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The Sri Lankan government has also approved a compensation package for those impacted by the terror attacks. The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved Sri Lankan Rs 1 million to the next of the kin of those who died or anyone suffering lifetime disability and Sri Lankan Rs 500,000 for those who suffered injuries.

Need to work more closely: India

Minister of State, Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, in an interview to WION, said, "we have a very good understanding of sharing of information and intelligence. It's a natural course of understanding. Despite that, incidents take place, we need to work more closely." Rijiju was responding to a query on the lapses despite intelligence information being shared with Sri Lanka.

Calling the incident "disturbing", he said, if "anything happens in Sri Lanka it will have some kind of ramifications in India too. Same as anything happens in India will have its impact on its neighbours. Naturally, we have to be more aware."

US helps Sri Lanka

The Americans are also helping Sri Lankans in the aftermath of the incident. The US embassy in Sri Lanka in a statement said, "US experts are already working closely with their Sri Lankan partners on fulfilling short term, specific objectives related to the recent attacks and to bring the perpetrators to justice."

United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is helping Sri Lankan authorities probe the terror attack.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday issued a travel advisory for Indian nationals to Sri Lanka and directed people "not to undertake non-essential travel".

The MEA, in a release, stated that those who would need to travel to the neighbouring country and are not in a situation to avoid it can contact the High Commission of India in Colombo.